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Thursday, May 31, 2012

I was disappointed yesterday to learn that Gov. Tom Corbett has not
read House Bill 1776 (The Property Tax Independence Act), has not met
with its prime sponsor, Rep. Jim Cox, and did not know enough about the bill
to take a position on it. The elimination of school property taxes is
the No. 1 issue facing Pennsylvania taxpayers ... and the governor
better get up to speed on it quickly.

With nearly 40 percent of the state's annual $27 billion General Fund budget going to Welfare programs, Pennsylvania taxpayers might want to know how the money is being spent. The state is making it easier with a new website:

Join
AHARMONY, the Antietam School District Glee Club, for its inaugural
performance on Friday, June 1, at 7 p.m. in the Mount Penn Primary
Center Auditorium, 201 North 25th Street, Mount Penn, PA. Admission is
FREE! The show is a compiled story (run time: approximately one hour)
using a variety of musical theatre pieces as well as pop-culture
classics!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

He's been in the governor's office for almost a year-and-a-half, but Republican Tom Corbett is still dealing with the mess left behind by Democrat Ed Rendell, who left office with a $4.2 billion budget deficit and failed to address some of the state's biggest problems, including public-employee pensions, transportation needs and funding for public education.

Gallup: U.S. veterans, about 13% of the adult population and consisting mostly of older men, support Mitt Romney over Barack Obama for president by 58% to 34%, while nonveterans give Obama a four-percentage-point edge.

The Boston Herald reports that tenured Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, a former Obama Administration officials running for a U.S. Senate seat in Mass. sold her expensive BMW right before announcing her candidacy. Another rich liberal pretending she's one of us.

The Washington Post's Fact Checker column catches Barack Obama in a big lie about the growth of federal spending under Obama. Fact Checker awards Obama 3 out of 4 Pinocchios for his made-up figures on federal spending.

All of a sudden, the world has noticed Cyprus, the tiny island-nation that has been occupied by Turkish troops since 1974. Could the discovery of massive deposits of natural gas off Cyprus' shores have anything to do with it?

Most people in Pennsylvania don't realize that a big chuck of their mortgage payment is set aside for school property taxes. Same goes for renters. Landlords build in property taxes into their monthly rent. Most Pennsylvania residents would see an instant boost in their income if property taxes were eliminated.

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Republican leadership in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are standing in the way of reforming Pennsylvania's broken school property tax system. Get in touch with House Speaker Sam Smith, Majority Leader Mike Turzai, Majority Whip Stan Saylor, Caucus Chair Sandra Major and Caucus Secretary Mike Vereb and demand a vote on House Bill 1776 (The Property Tax Independence Act).

Wisconsin's largest newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is urging state residents to keep Gov. Scott Walker in office in the upcoming recall election sponsored by unions and liberal special interest groups. Go figure.

If he doesn't end up on the ticket as vice president, wouldn't NJ Gov. Chris Christie make an excellent US Attorney General under Mitt Romney?

From The Associated Press:

"He is the most ill-prepared person to assume the presidency in my lifetime," Christie told some 600 Kentucky Republicans at a Lexington hotel. "This is a guy who literally is walking around in a dark room trying to find the light switch of leadership."

Despite widespread support from Pennsylvania residents and lawmakers, a handful of legislative leaders could derail plans to reform Pennsylvania's failed school property tax system, according to columnist Mary Young. It's time to put pressure on House Speaker Sam Smith and the GOP leadership to bring HB 1776 to a vote.

Nat Hentoff, a nationally renowned authority on the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights, on the 2012 presidential election: "I will vote for Romney to defeat the most dangerous presidential destroyer of American liberties in our history."

Thursday, May 17, 2012

From
a press release issued today by State Rep. Mike Vereb, R-150th Dist.,
on the news that Pennsylvania's 500 school districts are holding on to
$3.2 billion in "reserves" at a time when many districts are raising
property taxes, laying off staff and cutting programs:

"As
we face another tight budget year, I am furious to find that many of
the state’s school districts that are crying poor and blaming the state
for their fiscal problems are sitting on surpluses, including one
that totals $148 million. Simply put, hard-working taxpayers deserve
an explanation of why these reserve funds haven’t been used to help
ease the rising costs of education, especially at a time when some
communities’ school property taxes have increased."

Gov. Tom Corbett has also called on school boards to dip into reserves to help balance their 2012-13 budgets.

From
The Associated Press: "The school districts are making a concerted
effort not to go into those reserves," Corbett said, adding that
reserves are a rainy day fund that should be used at times like this.

From
The Associated Press: "The school districts are making a concerted
effort not to go into those reserves," Corbett said, adding that
reserves are a rainy day fund that should be used at times like this.

A Smart Politics analysis of presidential election data finds that the states consistently generating the most competitive races over the last 100 years are Missouri, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, with contests in each state decided by single digits in 16 of 26 cycles since 1908, or more than 60 percent of the time.

Pennsylvania school districts are sitting on $3.2 billion in "reserves" but many are proposing tax hikes and cuts in program rather than using the money on hand. Gov. Corbett wants the districts to use the money to help pay for expenses.

From
The Associated Press: "The school districts are making a concerted
effort not to go into those reserves," Corbett said, adding that
reserves are a rainy day fund that should be used at times like this.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

I'm glad to see NJ Gov. Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker both have a sense of humor, but don't be surprised if Booker ends up running against Christie for governor in 2013. Of course, Christie could end up being the vice president under President Mitt Romney, so it may not matter anyway.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

No wonder the Justice Dept. launched an immediate investigation of JP Morgan after the firm announced it had lost $2B in a risky investment scheme. Turns out rich guy Barack Obama keeps some of his money in a JP Morgan account. We wouldn't want Obama, who is part of the 1% he keeps warning you about, to lose any of his money, now would we?

At the same time most Pennsylvania school districts are preparing to raise property taxes, they are sitting on more than $3 billion in reserves. Another glaring example of how the current system of funding public education in Pennsylvania is not working.

John Griffing: Over the past three years, President Obama has demonstrated his willingness to lie about anything and everything if it leads to the acquisition and retention of maximum power for himself and his cohortsDeception Fatigue

The new push to eliminate school property taxes in Pennsylvania needs support from voters.

From an editorial in The Pottstown Mercury:

The property tax reform legislation would benefit senior citizens and
many lower- or fixed-income residents who struggle to pay increasing
property taxes, but reform would also benefit public schools. The
current system favors wealthier districts, forcing districts in poorer
areas to raise taxes or cut programs to balance their budgets. The children of Pennsylvania stand to benefit from tax reform by
spreading revenue for education more evenly across district lines.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Michael Medved weighs in on the latest assault on Christians by the secular left:

American Atheists, an organization representing the civil liberties of agnostics, filed suit in 2011 to block display of the Ground Zero Cross anywhere on the grounds of the new memorial museum planned for the World Trade Center site.

Voters in Berks County's 11th State Senate District will have a choice after all when they go to the polls in November to elect a state Senator. Republican Karen L. Mogel received enough write-in votes last month to qualify for the fall general election. She is challening Democrat Judy Schwank.

A liberal judge appointed by Barack Obama wants a Virginia school district to cut The 10 Commandments down to The 6 Commandments to eliminate any reference to God or the school district will be forced to remove a display of The 10 Commandments from school property.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Two striking comments from Nat Hentoff, one of the leading authorities on the Bill of Rights and civil liberties in the United States and a lifelong Democrat:

"Obama is possibly the most dangerous and destructive president we have ever had."

"Will I vote for Romney? To beat Obama, yes. How much more of who we are, though imperfect, will be left after four more years of Obama? We’re not conquered by him yet. Our most powerful weapon to remain who we are, the First Amendment, is open to everyone, whatever Obama thinks of them."

President Obama’s long national evolution is over. His bewildering, bungled admission that he now supports marriage for same-sex couples, after a lengthy “evolution” expedited by another Joe Biden gaffe, was an embarrassing episode he won’t want to repeat.

Pity the poor Obama voter. He fell for the "hope and change" line but ended up with "despair and status" quo after three failed years under Obama.

From Investor's Business Daily:

IBD compared average job growth, unemployment, changes in housing
prices, per capita income and GDP growth, and gas prices for the 22
states that voted for John McCain in 2008 and the 28 states that voted for Obama .

On every indicator but one, blue states have done worse, on average, than red states.

Obama's liberal media apologists waste little time defending the president's radical views on same-sex marriage. Get ready for the tsunami to come over the next few days as the lefties try to tell the majority of Americans they're wrong for believing marriage should be between a man and a woman.